Illegals in Arizona Apply for Driver's Licenses

Some of the 22,000 illegal migrants in Arizona permitted to remain in the country under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program began applying for driver's licenses on Monday, USA Today reported.

President Barack Obama announced the DREAM Act in June 2012, granting certain young people who were brought illegally to the U.S. as children the right to remain and work legally.

In response, Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer signed an executive order preventing them from obtaining driver's licenses. But federal courts ruled her actions unconstitutional, paving the way for the Arizona Department of Transportation Motor Vehicle Division to start processing license applications.

"The day I heard on the news we could get our licenses, I was jumping around and was so excited," Maria Sanchez told USA Today as she stood in line at a Phoenix MVD office. "I'm still nervous. I hope I pass."

Like many Dreamers, Sanchez has been driving illegally for years.

Sergio Olvera easily passed his driving exam. He has 15 years of driving experience.

"I just wanted to have a driver's license and be able to drive legally," he said. "I can drive anywhere now without getting a ticket."

NPR reported that many Dreamers obtained driver's licenses in Iowa using fraudulent documentation.

"Breaking one law, you break another one and another one and another one," one young woman said. "It's like a chain, a circle that just goes around and around. And it never stops."

American Civil Liberties Union lawyer Dan Pachoda characterized Brewer's executive order of 2½ years ago as "spiteful from the beginning," according to USA Today.

The U.S. Supreme Court refused Brewer's request to block an interim ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit compelling the state to issue driver's licenses to Dreamers.

Nebraska is now the only state where Dreamers are blocked from applying for licenses to drive. The local ACLU chapter there has filed a federal lawsuit which is expected to be heard soon, NPR reported.

Some of the 22,000 illegal migrants in Arizona permitted to remain in the country under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program began applying for driver's licenses on Monday, USA Today reported.